In recent years the Town of Chevy Chase has turned itself into a regional laughingstock over its farcically obvious NIMBY opposition to the Purple Line. But how many Chevy Chase residents actually deserve to be laughed at?

At a recent Town Council public hearing to gauge support, 28 residents testified in favor of using Town money to sue Maryland over the Purple Line, while 21 testified against doing so. That’s a 57/43 percentage split, based on the people who feel strongly enough to show up in person to a meeting.

If I were one of those 43%, I’d be pretty upset that my government was preparing to spend $275 of my money ($750, 000 cost of lawsuit divided by 2, 726 total residents in the Town) on something I didn’t want them to fight in the first place.